Arch.



PATENTBD JAN. 30, 1906.

R. SGHNBIDER.

ARCH.

APPLICATION FILED 1313.111905.

Jmzwm 'A f l EFFIE REIN HOLD SCHNEIDER, OF SHARON, PEN N SYLVAN IA.

A R C l-l n Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed February 17, 1905. Serial No. 246,062.

To tI/Z wifi/0m, it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, REINHOLD SCHNEIDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sharon, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Arches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in reverberatory furnaces, liet-blast stoves, and the like, Where the checker-work and the brickwork of the arch is subjected to the intense heat and products of combustion and at the same time sustains the great weight of the checker-work used in furnaces of this class.

In devices of this nature as heretofore constructed it has been found that some, at least, of the bricks crumble or break in a comparatively short time. This causes more or less of the checker-work to settle, in which event the repairing of the furnace is an exceedingly diflicult, expensive, and dangerous operation.

One object of the present invention is to provide a construction in which the liability of the burning and falling out of any of the bricks of the checker-work is reduced to a minimum.

Another object is to so construct the arch that in case of burning out, crumbling, or breaking of one or more bricks of the arch all danger of settling of the checker-work will be avoided Vand the defective arch may be in whole or any part replaced easily and quickly and without danger to the workmen.

l/Vith these and other objects in view the invention comprises the various features of construction herein described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a central vertical section of the lower portion of a furnace embodying my invention, this being all that it is thought necessary to show. Fig. 2 is a similar view on line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4L is an enlarged detail view of the checkerwork, and Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail views of the arch.

In the drawings, the letter A indicates a furnace, and B the checker-work, which latter will be more fully described hereinafter.

At C is shown the combustion-chamber, formed by the arched partition-wall 3. This arched wall being heated from the inside or side toward space C will expand toward the checker-work and press upon the heXagon bricks as soon as the limited clearance-space is taken up by the continuous expansion caused by the fluctuation of the temperature.

This ofcourse would not matter as long as the hexagonal bricks are intact and strong enough to resist this pressure. Experience has, however, shown that finally the oval arched wall will bulge so far out that it has to be repaired or renewed. To take the pressure from this wall, I insert a partition-wall 2, ruiming from the center of the arch to the other side of the furnace. This partition-wall, in connection with the two halves of the inside combustionchamber wall 3, which in this case would preferably be straight, forms a kind of triangular brace and serves both for bracing the combustion-chamber wall, relieving the hexagons of undue pressure, and for absorbing heat just as the hexagonal bricks are intended to do.

At 8 and SiL are shown the concentric arches which support the checker-work and which form an important feature of the present invention. These arches, while they are in contact with each other, are entirely independent. It will be seen that the lower arches are the ones which are most subjected to heat and liability to breakage, and by reason of their being entirely independent of the upper arches may be entirely removed and replaced or repaired in any manner without any danger of the settling of the checkerwork which is supported firmly and securely by the upper arches. In addition to the liability of the arches becoming damaged there is more or less liability of the top plates or bricks of the walls or columns 7 upon which the arches rest becoming damaged and needing replacing. In order to provide for this, I place upon each wall 7 two sets of bricks, four in each set, and placed side by side, as shown at c. Upon the inclined outer faces of each set of plates or bricks I rest a pair of plates b, the total width of which is equal to the width of the four plates c, and against these plates b the bricks of the lower arch abut.

Over the tops of the plates b and c are placed plates or blocks a, each of which corresponds in width to the entire width of the four blocks or plates c, and against the inclined walls of these blocks or bricks the bricks of the upper arch 8a abut. By reason of the fact that these supporting plates or blocks just described break joints with each other it will be readily seen that should any one block t or c become damaged along with the lower arch it can be removed and re- IOO v 'the hole in the center placed, as the blocks against which the upper arch abuts will be supported by those lower blocks whichremain undisturbed.

I have shown in the drawings hexagonalshaped bricks as constituting the checkerwork.

Hexagonal bricks were adopted, as it was thought that this shape would prevent any part of the brick which might separate or crack ofi from the body from leaving its place. This it would do if the cracks were of a regular or straight nature; but it has been found in practice that they break in such irregular ways that pieces drop out.

It will readily be seen that the irregular break of one hexagon brick may cause the ruin of the whole furnace as ordinarily constructed. The partition-wall 2 will therefore localize an injured part of the structure to one-half.

Now as to the cracking of hexagons: To make it almost certain that the hexagons will crack, if at all, along a straight line above one side of their support, I make each brick with grooves or slots e, which slots will be above the support when the brick is in place. This makes the brick the Weakest on that side, and any initial strain in the brick or any outside action up on it, as heat passing through the passage, will break the brick, if at all, along this weakened line, relieving thereby the strain on the brick, but maintaining its support, as no additional and irregular crack would be probable.

The breaking of the brick is partly due to initial strain caused by burning the bricks, partly by the heated gases passing through of the bricks and heating them thus from the inside alone, as the outside of the brick is protected by the adjoining bricks. In order to heat the bricks more regularly, I cut off the six corners of each brick, which will form a triangular space between each three bricks, as shown at f, through which the hot or the cold air may pass, keeping them at more even temperature, which will be considerable help to guard against cracking. v

It will be understood that the combustibles entering at 9 pass upward while burned over the wall 3 down through hexagons and enter through passages 6 into the main flue 5, which leads them to the stack. Vhen reversed, the cold air enters through 5 and passes in a manner opposite to that just described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination with the checker-work of a furnace, of a supporting-arch beneath the same, a second protecting-arch beneath the first arch, a separate set of blocks abutting against the base of each arch, and a column supporting said blocks, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a pair of superimposed arches, a plurality of blocks supporting the base of the lower arch and blocks supporting the base of the upper arch and breaking joints with the blocks which support the bases of the lower arch, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

REINHOLD SCHNEIDER.

IVitnesses:

E. S. BARTLETT, M. A. Tozrnn. 

